So sick of throwing food out

[bendmeoverbackwards]

Please tell me I'm not alone.

Yet again I am having to throw out fresh fruit and mouldy bread.

I do try and meal plan and shop for the week but sometimes unexpected things happen and we eat out, or one of my dds goes out with a friend and isn't around to eat the fruit etc.

I feel so guilty at the waste.

Got half used jars of jams, sauces etc in the back of the fridge. I want to do a big fridge clear out and then start again.

Any tips please?

[quote bendmeoverbackwards]@viques yes things like chopped up pineapple, melon, mango etc. We're not big eaters of apples and pears etc. It's hard to judge it, sometimes my dds will eat all the prepared fruit straight away, other times it sits in the fridge. I don't mind too much about the cost if it gets eaten![/quote]
Pineapple and mango both freeze fine, you could then use them frozen to make blitzed topping for ice cream, granola or yogurt, or in smoothies. Pineapple can be grilled or put into cakes.

Thanks, some great tips on here.

@MinesAMassiveSalad why does some veg freeze and not others?

I find it works better to look at newly bought fresh produce, calculate that we won't manage to eat it all. Then wash, chop and freeze it whilst it's fresh. Otherwise tbh everything frozen will taste a bit awful and I used to blame freezing when really I was freezing stuff too late.

The end result of a frozen lettuce isn't good.

Honestly it's trial and error. I find I'm quite happy with frozen stuff in long cooked food.

In a stir fry where the idea is al dente veg, I'd enjoy fresh more.

Fruit and veg usually be eaten days (sometimes weeks ie apples and potatoes) after the sell by date. If you open a salad bag, pop a bit of kitchen towel it and and put that side resting down so it absorbs the water, makes the bag last much longer.
You can freeze ginger and chilli's and grate them from frozen, they are absolutely fine.
I wouldn't recommend frozen brocolli or cauliflower though, it just goes to mush when I cook it!

It should last in your fridge.

When in doubt you could cook it up early and reheat.
Heels and dried bread can be turned very easily into croutons. Dried plain and frozen for stuffing/dressing come cooler months.
I’m a huge fan of fruit compote and that freezes as well to be used as the base of a crisp or pie filling.

This is why we shop daily (a luxury I know). Bread is the thing that always catches me out.

That veg will be fine, ignore dates on fruit and veg user your eyes and nose.
Also buy a whole pineapple/melon/mango and chop when wanted they lay longer than prepared stuff. In Tesco recently they've had melons for 75p, pineapples the same, mangos 49p much cheaper, lasts longer. Once it's chopped off there's any left freeze it, we use it in smoothies or put it on top of porridge etc

My bread maker has a jam making programme so if I end up with a punnet of going squishy strawberries or other berries I Chuck them in there - delicious jam.

I always set aside one day per week to have 'leftovers' for dinner. Even if there's nothing obvious left over, we always manage to cobble something together.

@KingdomScrolls wow that does work out much cheaper! I knew that pre chopped is a lot more but I’m lazy, it’s a faff and the dc are more likely to eat it if it’s ready to eat. I will try a whole one though.

That stir fry veg will be much more forgiving in a Thai curry type thing than as stir fry, you could make it up sooner if needed and freeze for the planned day

I buy basic fruit (apples, oranges, bananas) every week as it lasts a week in the fruit bowl (well, most isgone, we go through lots of it) but only buy fancier fruit like berries, tropical fruits if they're on the meal plan.

Same with veg, anything left over by Friday gets made into veggie or lentil soup which gets eaten up as lunches over the weekend. Or I make a veggie bolognaise or shepherds pie. (We're not vegetarian but ds and I eat a lot of veggie stuff and his girlfriend is veggie and is around for some meals too).

Bread I've tried freezing but I'm trying not to buy it at the moment due to me trying to low carb and my hopeless addiction to cheese sandwiches.

I buy meat in bulk and freeze so there's always some in the freezer - before it was going off in the fridge.

But the biggest thing is the meal planning, and freezing leftovers (though dh and dd2 will take leftovers for lunch the next day).

I have an easy no kneed focaccia recipe. 12 wait but easy to plan the evening before.

Left over but not mouldy bread can be made into summer fruit pudding (also uses the berries) delicious and keeps about 4 days in the fridge.
Left over bread can become bread and butter pudding or bread pudding.
The crusts can be fried as croutons they keep over a week in the cupboard and much longer in the freezer

Frozen veg such as broccoli and cauliflower isn’t as good as fresh but does cut down on the waste. You can buy frozen stir fry veg as well.

Have you tried tinned pineapple and other tinned fruits? I can’t stand fresh pears but love tinned ones.

Invest in some Stay Fresh bags from Lakeland - they are truly magic in keeping fruit and veg longer in the fridge. Agree with others, just stop buying the prepared fruit and buy bags of frozen smoothie mixes if that’s the only way you can get fruit in you.

Meal plan is the very best way to avoid wastage - make a list and stick to it - and get shopping delivered so you aren’t tempted by other bits as you are wandering around.

Your freezer is your friend / when things start getting towards the use by date fling it in the freezer. Very little is not suitable for freezing.

And I can’t believe bread going mouldy within a day - modern bread has so many preservatives in it to avoid just that!!

Where are you keeping your bread? If it is going mouldy within a day, switch to another kind of bread and find somewhere else to store it.

I've stopped buying pre-prepared fruit like mango and melon and never buy any prepared veg as it simply doesnt last. Salad, I have switched to hearts of romaine and white and red cabbage as they keep longest.

I get up half an hour earlier and prepare what fruit and veg I need that day. I've retrained the kids to enjoy tinned mandarin oranges and pineapple. Bananas, if they don't get eaten, are turned into banana loaf at the weekend. Apples, plums, blueberries, strawberries, nectarines, peaches - if they start to get a bit old, I make a fruit crumble - I ALWAYS have a bag of crumble mix in my store cupboard. We all love crumble.

It's much worse when you live alone and don't have the freezer space to 'save' food!

Almost everything is packaged as family sized

You don’t need to throw that veg away it’ll be fine on Wednesday. It seems like you doggedly stick to the best before dates which is probably causing lots of your waste. It would be ridiculous to throw everything away. Just look at the jars of sauces or whatever you have in the fridge and use them up one by one. And buy less in the future.

Tell your DDS that you have prepared meals and that you expect them to be home, no excuses. Plan meals and plan outings and stick to it. They are supposed to be learning from you how to run a home.

@Flipflopblowout you don’t have teenagers do you? 😂 I’m not that sort of parent, teens often do make last minute plans, I love to see them going out and enjoying themselves

What you could do is batch cook a few meals in advance and freeze them, that way you won’t waste the ingredients and you or your teens know you have something to grab out of the freezer for short notice meals or on days you are busy. Have a look at The Batch Lady website, it’s brilliant